


Friends and Family Discount

by HollyeLeigh, Winterbaby89



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/M, Friendship, Furniture Shopping, Mutual Pining, Pregnancy, Walsh POV, cs end game, in which walsh is not an utter bastard deserving of death
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-15
Updated: 2019-10-15
Packaged: 2020-12-14 01:28:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,532
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21007448
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HollyeLeigh/pseuds/HollyeLeigh, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Winterbaby89/pseuds/Winterbaby89
Summary: Walsh is actually a nice guy, and he is happy for his friends.





	Friends and Family Discount

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Kmomof4](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kmomof4/gifts).

> This is the product of our recent girls weekend, and since Krystal couldn't join us, we figured we would write her something short and sweet for her birthday. Happy Birthday K, we love you.

* * *

The bell sounded over the shop door, its friendly tinkling chime alerting him to the presence of new customers. Walsh emerged from the back room that held his workshop and stopped short at the sight of the pair who’d just walked in. The woman’s prominent belly, swollen from the life currently growing inside of her was the first attribute he noticed. The second were the hands, large and strong yet caring and gentle that caressed her abdomen as the man crooned something over the bump. The woman’s face lit up with a smile, and Walsh couldn’t help the twinge of reminiscence he felt in his chest of a time when she used to smile like that for him.

Well, not exactly like that. Her smiles had never been as free and joyous with him, but that didn’t mean they hadn’t had their moments of happiness. Still, even in their happiest of times it had always felt as though she, Emma, always had one foot out the door, and that foot always seemed poised to take her in only one direction.

Killian’s.

Walsh had finally gotten Emma to agree to go on a date with him, after months of pining, and he was elated. The fated date actually went well, leading from one to another, to another, and before he knew it they had been dating six months. In that time he had met her few friends and coworkers, even having weekly get-togethers with the lot of them, with a good time had by all. As time went on, though, he noticed the little things, small annoyances about things he wasn’t even sure Emma was aware she was doing. He knew she’d had a rough childhood, so she was skittish and standoffish with everyone; everyone but him, Killian. At first Walsh didn’t think anything about it because they worked together in bail bonds, and you had to trust your partner with your safety and on occasion your life. But he couldn’t shake it off as much as he tried; there was an undeniable connection between the two that went past working together in a dangerous job. Even a blind man could see it.

Despite these niggling insecurities and occasional suspicions that Killian’s feelings for his partner (and Walsh’s girlfriend) might go beyond that of being _just friends_, Walsh couldn’t help but like the man. He was gregarious and irreverent, never without a quip or innuendo, yet he always had his friends’ backs and lived by a code of honor Walsh could only ever hope to aspire to. And yeah… he was good looking. Okay, very good looking. Even he had to admit the man was, as their mutual friend Ruby had put it a time or twice, ‘sex on legs’. Not that he’d ever own up to that assessment publicly.

It shouldn’t have been such a surprise to him when the pieces finally fell into place, the two partners realizing they did mean more to one another than mere coworkers or friends. Their realization had still been like a punch in the gut though, probably because it had happened the night Walsh had planned to propose. She’d gotten the call while they were at dinner. Jones had been shot by the skip he’d tracked down and rushed off to the hospital. Being Killian’s friend, Walsh had been worried for him too, but not the same way he’d watched the fear eat away at his girlfriend while they waited for Killian to pull through emergency surgery. When the doctor said they could go in one at a time to see him, it hadn’t even been a question among their assembled group of friends that Emma would go first, that she would be the one Killian would want to see the moment he woke up and that she’d want to be the one there for him when he did.

It was then that Walsh knew.

After Killian had pulled through, and was sent home a week later, Walsh avowed to have a much needed conversation with Emma. While Killian was in the hospital, she had been by his side night and day when she didn’t have to be at work, and now that he was home, Walsh had told her they needed to get lunch together. During their lunch, he kept a level head and calm demeanor as he laid out all of his observations before suggesting that they should break up. Emma had looked guilty and acted properly contrite for her part in all of it, and had agreed with him that it was probably best if they were just friends. Walsh had left their lunch feeling a bit downtrodden about the turn of events, especially since he could see the writing on the wall of what would happen next. Knowing it was coming did not stop the feeling of having all the air knocked out of him the first time he saw it in person.

They weren’t flamboyant about it or anything. That wasn’t really either of their styles. Respectfully discreet when out with the group, it was still too much for Walsh knowing they were clearly a couple, so he’d started to withdraw from the normal gatherings. It wasn’t until he’d run into a despondent and deep into his cups Killian at the bar one night that Walsh recognized there was still a place for him in their lives. They’d all been friends, once upon a time, and he held no ill will towards either Killian or Emma. In fact, upon hearing that the two had just had their first major row, Walsh found himself quite invested in their happiness.

He’d spent the next few hours commiserating with Killian about Emma’s walls and her natural tendency to want to run when the going got tough, but encouraged his friend with the fact that he was the one she tended to run to and the fact that she’d already texted him wanting to kiss and make up was a good sign. After that, things had slowly gotten back to normal. He and Killian often met for drinks after work and Emma had set him up with a fun and feisty redhead. The relationship hadn’t worked out, but it had shown him that he had a lot to offer and the right woman might still be out there for him.

When the time came, Killian had asked him to be one of the men to stand with him as he vowed to spend the rest of his life with Emma. Emma, in turn, had thanked him for making her see the truth that day at lunch as he spun her around the dance floor in her bridal gown. Any remnants of jealousy or longing he might have been holding on to evaporated when they announced the impending arrival of their little one, and though he’d always hold a special place in his heart for the time he spent with Emma, it was clear to everyone who knew them that Killian and Emma belonged with one another and were more than deserving of this happy beginning.

Coming back to the present after reliving their history, Walsh made his way towards the couple with a genuine smile and warm greeting for his friends.

“Is it that time already?”

Killian reached out to embrace his friend in a hug as he said, “Just about; we’ve almost got everything ready, but we knew you would have the perfect crib and changing table for the wee one.”

“I absolutely do. I actually earmarked two I knew you would love, shall we?”

“Lead the way.”

It only took them about two hours to decide on the set they had to have, and when it came time to pay for their newly found treasures, Walsh had stopped their objections over the reduced price stating, “Friends and family discount for you two. You know this by now, so no arguing. I will be sure to engrave the name into the crib’s headboard, that is of course if you two ever decide on one,” he teased.

With everything settled, other than the delivery date and the customization, which was to be determined, hinging upon the baby’s name, he bid his friends good day as they made their way out of the store and on to the rest of their afternoon. Walsh chuckled to himself over the thought of how he’d razz Killian later when they all met for drinks with their other friends. The topic of the baby’s name was sure to be the leading subject of their discussion, and he already planned to tell Jones that the discount would only apply if he agreed to name the baby Walsh. Who cared if it was a girl? They were a progressive couple after all, and they owed him, he would remind him. Killian would most likely give him that infamous raised brow while Emma rolled her eyes, both flat out refusing to do anything of the sort, and Walsh would take it all in stride, awaiting the announcement of the baby’s name so he could gift them other customized pieces to welcome their little bundle with.

After all, what were friends for?

_Fin_


End file.
